I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5920 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 

to submit to Congress an annual report on open burn pits, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2018 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 

Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 

of Defense to submit to Congress an annual report on 

open burn pits, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Airborne Hazards and 

5 Open Burn Pit Registry Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BURN PITS. 

7 (a) 2018 NDAA.—Section 738 of the National De8 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 


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1 115–91) is amended by inserting ‘‘in consultation with the 

2 War Related Illness and Injury Study Center,’’ before 

3 ‘‘shall coordinate efforts’’. 

4 (b) REPORTS.— 

5 (1) SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—Not 

6 later than January 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, 

7 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit re8 ports to the Committees on Armed Services and on 

9 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

10 and Senate regarding the following: 

11 (A) New research and proposed policy 

12 changes of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

13 regarding efforts to identify, investigate, diag14 nose, treat, and heal medical conditions suf15 fered by veterans related to exposure to open 

16 burn pits. 

17 (B) The number of veterans who received 

18 hospital care or medical services furnished by 

19 the Secretary during the preceding year for 

20 medical conditions related to exposure to open 

21 burn pits, including— 

22 (i) the medical conditions related to 

23 exposure to open burn pits; and 

24 (ii) when and where the veterans were 

25 exposed to open burn pits. 


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1 (C) Plans of the Secretary to utilize and 

2 improve the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn 

3 Pit Registry (referred to in this section as ‘‘the 

4 Registry’’), including— 

5 (i) outreach to veterans who have al6 ready registered responded to the Registry 

7 questionnaire regarding new information 

8 learned about medical conditions related to 

9 exposure to open burn pits; 

10 (ii) outreach to members of the 

11 Armed Forces and veterans who were ex12 posed to open burn pits to encourage such 

13 persons to respond to the Registry ques14 tionnaire; 

15 (iii) partnerships between the Sec16 retary and the Secretary of Defense to 

17 identify and inform members of the Armed 

18 Forces and veterans who were exposed to 

19 open burn pits; 

20 (iv) actions taken to simplify the Reg21 istry questionnaire, including allowing 

22 members of the Armed Forces and vet23 erans to input pertinent information auto24 matically from the Departments of Vet25 erans Affairs and Defense; 


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1 (v) actions taken to allow members of 

2 the Armed Forces and veterans to update 

3 answers to the Registry questionnaire; 

4 (vi) actions taken to allow the match5 ing of information in the Registry to data 

6 in the possession of the Health Adminis7 tration and Benefits Administration of the 

8 Department; 

9 (vii) actions taken to make data de10 scribed in clause (vi) available for longitu11 dinal studies; 

12 (viii) privacy issues related to the 

13 Registry that the Secretary has identified 

14 and actions taken to mitigate such issues; 

15 and 

16 (ix) actions taken to model the Reg17 istry on other successful registries, includ18 ing registries operated by the Centers for 

19 Disease Control and Prevention. 

20 (D) An overview of initial claims and ap21 proved claims for compensation or health care 

22 related to open burn pit exposures. 

23 (E) Coordination between the Department 

24 and any other Federal agency or non-govern25 mental entity related to the research and treatVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5920.IH H5920

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1 ment of medical conditions related to exposure 

2 to open burn pits. 

3 (F) Actions taken by the Secretary to up4 date the 2011 Institute of Medicine report ti5 tled ‘‘Long-Term Health Consequences of Ex6 posure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan’’. 

7 (G) Any plan of the Secretary to conduct 

8 research to address areas that the National 

9 Academy of Medicine identifies as having lim10 ited, suggestive, inadequate, or insufficient evi11 dence to determine whether an association ex12 ists between exposure to open burn pits and an 

13 illness, symptom, or disease. 

14 (H) The strategy of the Secretary to edu15 cate health care providers (including non-De16 partment providers) who treat veterans regard17 ing the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of 

18 medical conditions related to exposure to open 

19 burn pits, including the following: 

20 (i) How the Secretary measures 

21 whether providers are aware of and versed 

22 in the environmental exposure knowledge 

23 base. 


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1 (ii) Whether and how providers screen 

2 veterans for medical conditions related to 

3 exposure to open burn pits. 

4 (iii) Methods (including direct ques5 tions) that providers use to identify vet6 erans who were likely exposed to open burn 

7 pits. 

8 (iv) Whether and how providers refer 

9 veterans who were exposed to open burn 

10 pits to appropriate specialists. 

11 (v) Whether and how the Secretary 

12 tracks referrals described in clause (v) and 

13 related outcomes. 

14 (vi) Whether the Secretary is con15 ducting any ongoing research regarding 

16 veterans who were exposed to open burn 

17 pits and related health outcomes. 

18 (vii) What training the Secretary pro19 vides for providers regarding the assess20 ment, diagnosis, and treatment of medical 

21 conditions related to exposure to open burn 

22 pits. 

23 (viii) How many providers have re24 ceived training described in clause (viii). 


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1 (I) Coordination with the Department of 

2 Defense and related information regarding vet3 erans exposed to open burn pits. 

4 (J) Resources and legislation the Secretary 

5 determines to be necessary to identify, mitigate, 

6 investigate, diagnose, treat, and heal medical 

7 conditions related to open burn pit exposures. 

8 (2) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—Not later than 

9 January 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, the Sec10 retary of Defense shall submit reports to the Com11 mittees on Armed Services and on Veterans’ Affairs 

12 of the House of Representatives and Senate regard13 ing the following: 

14 (A) Actions taken to identify and inform 

15 members of the Armed Forces and veterans ex16 posed to open burn pits, including— 

17 (i) the formation of any partnership 

18 between the Departments of Defense and 

19 Veterans Affairs to identify such individ20 uals; 

21 (ii) actions taken to ensure such indi22 viduals are screened for medical conditions 

23 related to open burn pit exposures; and 

24 (iii) actions taken to ensure that, be25 fore such members of the Armed Forces 


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1 separate from active service, the mem2 bers— 

3 (I) receive education about serv4 ices available from the Departments 

5 of Defense and Veterans Affairs re6 garding medical conditions related to 

7 open burn pit exposures; and 

8 (II) respond to the Registry 

9 questionnaire. 

10 (B) Actions taken and plans to mitigate 

11 future exposures of members of the Armed 

12 Forces to open burn pits. 

13 (C) Alternatives to open burn pits and 

14 evaluations of such alternatives. 

15 (D) Any exposures of members of the 

16 Armed Forces to open burn pits operated by an 

17 entity other than the Department of Defense. 

18 (E) Data shared with the Secretary of Vet19 erans Affairs regarding— 

20 (i) members of the Armed Forces and 

21 veterans exposed to open burn pits; 

22 (ii) when and where members of the 

23 Armed Forces and veterans were exposed 

24 to open burn pits; 


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1 (iii) the contents of burn pits identi2 fied under clause (ii); 

3 (iv) the duration of exposures identi4 fied under clause (ii); 

5 (v) data collected by industrial hygien6 ists regarding exposures of members of the 

7 Armed Forces to open burn pits; 

8 (vi) data collected from members of 

9 the Armed Forces in post-deployment 

10 health assessments that the Secretary de11 termines are related to open burn pit expo12 sures. 

13 (F) Plans and actions of the Secretary to 

14 collect surveillance data to enhance accuracy re15 garding the number of service members ex16 posed, characteristics of those exposed, and pat17 terns or linkages identified in those exposed. 

18 (G) Plans and actions of the Secretary to 

19 link data collected under subparagraph (F) to 

20 health data regarding veterans that is in the 

21 possession of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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